Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maniac Magee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Racism
Love, Loss, and Home
Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Maniac learns that Piper and Russell run away from home almost every other week. When the little boys find out who Maniac is, they can’t stop laughing—they know the story of Maniac bunting Giant John’s “fastfrog” pitch. Maniac doesn’t like seeing the kids laugh at their older brother, so he invents a story about John throwing a pitch he couldn’t hit (he’s actually describing Grayson’s “stopball”). After that, Giant John lets his brothers bring Maniac home.
Even though Maniac has every reason to dislike and fear Giant John, he doesn’t want John’s little brothers to shame him, so he helps him save face—again showing Maniac’s character and concern for the dignity of others.
Themes
The McNabs’ house reeks. The first thing Maniac sees is a mutt peeing on the floor. Nobody cleans it up. The whole house, in fact, is covered with waste and trash of various kinds. There’s a hole in the ceiling. The refrigerator contains nothing but mustard and beer. And there are roaches everywhere.
The minute Maniac steps inside the McNabs’ house, he realizes it’s not much of a home. The kids are obviously neglected, and it’s a far from nurturing environment.
Themes
A tattooed man in a sleeveless sweatshirt—George McNab—comes home with a Burger King bag. He immediately starts chugging a beer, unconcerned about Maniac’s presence in his kitchen. Piper and Russell run in and start squabbling over the food.
As reflected by the neglected environment, the boys’ father seems to put the minimum of effort into caring for them, too.
Themes
To Maniac, the rest of that night is like “scenes from a loony movie.” The Cobras come over to smoke and drink beer with Giant John. Piper and Russell join the bigger kids in smoking and drinking. There’s a football game in the living room. A box turtle randomly appears from behind the stove. Russell and Piper fire toy machine guns at the departing Cobras, telling Maniac that this is how they’re going to take down the “enemy”—from the East.
The McNabs’ home is the opposite of a place of love and flourishing. The little kids don’t receive any guidance or encouragement, and they’ve been taught to harbor hostility toward people who are different from them—namely, toward people from the East End.
Themes
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Early in the morning, Maniac lies between Piper and Russell in bed and wonders what he’s doing here—and who is truly the orphan in this situation. Downstairs, he hears George McNab come home, drunk.
From this sad situation, Maniac recognizes that, though he’s technically an orphan, he’s known far better homes than the McNab kids have.
Themes
